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[Helios]

Steam China will be separate from the international version of Steam · TechNode

The first batch of close to 40 games to be launched on the platform include Valve’s “Dota2” and “Dota Underlords.”

technode.com

Valve’s China partner, Perfect World, released more details about Steam China, the upcoming Chinese version of the world’s largest digital game distribution platform. The Shanghai-based video game developer and publishers said Steam China is “almost entirely independent of Steam.”

Why it matters: As Chinese regulators start to enforce more stringent rules on game content, Steam has come under closer scrutiny due to the violent and sexually explicit games that it distributes. An independent Chinese version of the platform is likely to help Valve, Steam’s owner, conform to Chinese regulations without damaging its existing interests in other markets.


Details: Perfect World said that the official Chinese name of Steam China would be “Zhengqi Pingtai,” which translates to “Steam Platform.”

• The platform is “tailored for Chinese users” and will have “high-speed servers and high-quality operations teams,” according to Perfect World CEO Xiao Hong.
• The first batch of close to 40 games that will be launched on the platform includes Valve’s “Dota2” and “Dota Underlords.” All of the titles are available on the international version of Steam.

 

[Birdo]

I'll assume it won't have any anti-cheat system in place. Or it will be dead on arrival.

 

[Shifty]

I'd like to call for a moment of silence as we remember those that died in the Dota 2 International Twitch Chat Massacre of 2019.

 

[Mista]

Region lock China. This is a must

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I wonder how many games would actually even be available on this thing. It sounds lonely.

 

[newtypepilot]

meanwhile at Tencent, "Epic, here's more buckets of cash. Go buy more exclusives!"

 

[Lucumo]

No idea why they aren't just pushing WeGame and blocking off access to Steam.

 

[Kazza]

Poor Chinese users. I'm afraid this was inevitable. Steam was bound to bend the knee sooner or later, or else the Chinese government would have just banned the website (the steam discussion forums were already blocked, but you could still buy the games). It's a shame, as Steam was a convenient way to access foreign games, free from censorship. I wonder how many games will be on the store by the end of the first year. The approval process will certainly be more stringent than regular Steam.

 

[michaelius]

Poor Chinese users. I'm afraid this was inevitable. Steam was bound to bend the knee sooner or later, or else the Chinese government would have just banned the website (the steam discussion forums were already blocked, but you could still buy the games). It's a shame, as Steam was a convenient way to access foreign games, free from censorship. I wonder how many games will be on the store by the end of the first year. The approval process will certainly be more stringent than regular Steam.

Are they going to hardblock global version ? Or will users still be able to access it

 

[johntown]

A gaming platform controlled by the government. I guess Papers Please will be the only game they can play.

 

[Aranea]

My condolences goes to the players on China. A lot of stuff on their video games will be changed more than what that they do currently.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

 

[Woo-Fu]

Not even remotely unusual with respect to the Chinese market. I wonder what the typical Chinese gamer thinks of PerfectWorld?

 

[Irobot82]

Maybe those steam stat charts will look a little more realistic.

 

[V4skunk]

I hope the cancerous Chinese players *cough* hackers get segregated to their own local servers.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Kinda like the internet in China. Makes sense.

*winniepooh.jpg*

 

[Trimesh]

Are they going to hardblock global version ? Or will users still be able to access it

I'm going to guess not - there are already China market specific versions of PSN and Xbox live, but the international versions aren't blocked.

 

[Kazza]

Are they going to hardblock global version ? Or will users still be able to access it

I hope not, but the government like to keep a tight grip on the media, so I think it's only a matter of time.

 

[Kazza]

Here's an interview with someone from Valve (DJ Powers) about the topic.

Valve talks Steam China, curation and exclusivity

Valve, alongside its business partner in China, Perfect World, has given us an update on the progress of Steam China to…

www.eurogamer.net

This sound a little ominous:

And you mentioned as well obviously there are a large amount of players here who enjoy gaming on Steam as it stands. Let's say I'm a Chinese citizen and I want to play, I don't know, FTL, and I've played a hundred hours in FTL and I don't want to lose all my saves and everything like that - what happens when Steam China comes in? Will my saves move over? Will I lose my library? Will I keep my library?

Powers: Our goal is to make sure your library remains, your data, your saves remain, you're not losing anything.

What if I own a game on Steam as-is, that isn't on Steam China at launch?

Powers: Nothing'll change about Steam global.

So Steam global will still be available in China?

Powers: Nothing'll change about Steam global.

Okay, could something external prevent Steam global from being available in China?

Powers: I mean, anything, yeah. There's always externalities you can't control. But the direction we're headed is that Steam global remains as it is today.

The Chinese government put a freeze on new game approvals earlier this year, which led to a rapid increase in Steam's Chinese userbase (up to 30%, by some counts). I'm sure Steam doesn't want to lose that market.

 

[SirKicksalot]

Here's an interview with someone from Valve (DJ Powers) about the topic.

Valve talks Steam China, curation and exclusivity

Valve, alongside its business partner in China, Perfect World, has given us an update on the progress of Steam China to…

www.eurogamer.net

Here's the video version:

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Perfect World is a stupid game given they are denying Chinese gamers games from aoround the world just in case Pooh Bear gets insulted in the game.

 

[shaddam]

Is typing Tianmen Square in chat to instantly disconnect chinese players a meme or real?

 

[Trimesh]

Seems to basically be a meme - it might have been true at one point, but there don't appear to be any filters at the network level now. Even stuff that the CCP have an absolute bee up their ass about doesn't seem to trigger any reaction.

天安门广场大屠杀 法轮大法好

The first one is "Tiananmen Square massacre" and the second is "Falun Gong is good".